1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a metal plate resistor suitable for use in current detecting applications or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, metal plate resistors having a resistive body in the form of a metal plate with electrodes attached to its respective opposite ends have widely been used as current detecting resistors or the like. Known metal plate resistors are made of a copper-nickel alloy, a nichrome alloy, an iron-chromium alloy, a manganin alloy, or the like, and has a low resistance of several mΩ or lower. For details, reference should be made to Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2002-184601.
Some metal plate resistors for use in harsh environments at high temperatures, such as in automobiles, are mounted on aluminum mounting boards that have a good heat radiating capability and are of a relatively low cost. Since an aluminum mounting board and a metal plate resistor mounted thereon have largely different coefficients of thermal expansion, the soldered joint between the aluminum mounting board and the metal plate resistor tends to be deteriorated soon due to thermal fatigue. Therefore, there has been a demand in the art for a metal plate resistor which is highly reliable against thermal fatigue of the soldered joint between the metal plate resistor and an aluminum mounting board on which it is used, and which is sufficiently reliable even when it is mounted on an aluminum mounting board.